The Long Road Home
by Guy Fawkes522
Summary: Frank Castle was just trying to get home when he stumbled upon a brutal attack on a young girl. Will saving her be his undoing?
1. Ch 1 The Beginning

AN: Like most of my Punisher stories, this is in the same universe as the movie Punisher: War Zone, now on with the story.

The Long Road Home

Ch. 1 The Beginning

Bayville, New York. Such a small place that most people couldn't even find it on a map; hell, the only reason he was here was because it was on the way home. Frank Castle had some 'business' in Bridgeport and now he is in a dark alley in Bayville, his hands deep in his trench coat, just trying get back to familiar territory. Thunder rumbled overhead, indicating that a storm was approaching. He didn't mind the rain though, he had done many jobs in the rain, it just slowed him down and he needed to get home and get some sleep.

'Could stay at hotel,' he thought. That was an option but he didn't want to stay in a vulnerable position for too long unless it was absolutely necessary. A scream not far from his location, roused him from his thoughts, followed by the screeching of tires, then silence. Frank at first thought that someone had just avoided an accident and continued walking.

At least that's what he thought before he heard someone crying, then someone saying, "Shut-up, you mutant bitch," rather harshly. At that point Frank knew there was no accident, he drew one of his Berettas, trying to discern from where it came from. He got the general direction when he heard a male voice scream, "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Southeast. He sprinted in that direction, catching a, "What the hell is going on?" this time by a women. "Bitch kicked me in the balls," then a grunt. "Rearrange them in the correct order," the women said "And get the job done." Frank rounded a corner and saw them.

A group of four people stood in front of a Subaru Forester at the entrance to the alley. The one giving orders was the women: Asian, with long, dark hair and glasses wearing a pantsuit. The other three were men, one black, the other two white, dressed in regular street clothes. One was grabbing his crotch (the one who'd been kicked.) "I think the bitch popped one." The other two were holding and hitting a young girl.

The girl couldn't have been more than sixteen, with auburn hair and streaks of white that framed her face. Her purple make-up was smeared across her face, probably due to the blood and tears. Frank walked slowly towards the group, not wanting to alert them of his presence until the right moment. He took a few more steps before they eventually saw him. With the white skull on his body armor, there was little doubt as to who he was.

The two holding the girl dropped her and started to reach into their coats. The third man dropped to his knees, while the women turned and ran. The two guys went down pretty quick and the women just barely made it to the driver's side before she got one in the back. The last one was on the ground, sobbing. What ever he was saying wasn't English but that didn't matter, Frank could recognize the Lord's Prayer in any language. He gave him a moment…just about to the line about forgiveness.

With that done, he turned his attention to the girl, to see how much they did to her. She was unconscious and her face was bruised and battered but it should heal up just fine. Her left eye, however, looked like it had sustained quite a bit of damage. He wasn't a doctor so he didn't know the full extent of her injury. Her black jeans and matching long-sleeve shirt were torn but at least they were still on her. Too many times he's seen women even younger used and abused and left to waste away. But she had fought back and that's probably what saved her.

She began to stir and turned her attention to Frank and her eyes immediately filled with fear. Frank immediately took notice of this, "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, hoping that would calm her down. "Who are you," she asked in a thick southern accent. "My name is Frank," he answered, thinking that if he said exactly who he is it would make her even more afraid. Her eyes drifted downwards and she saw the skull on his chest. "You're the Punisher," she said. "Yeah," he said just as she started to slip back into unconsciousness.

"Hey!" he moved to try and shake her awake. Her eyes immediately flew open and she smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me!" she nearly shouted. "I'm not going to hurt you," Frank repeated. "No," she said, shaking her head. "I'll hurt you." Frank wasn't sure what she meant by that but he pushed it aside and got back to the task at hand. "You need to stay awake until the cops show up." The fear in her eyes returned with a vengeance. "No. No cops. They'd be worse."

Usually when someone's afraid of the cops, it's because they have something to hide, but Frank knew that this wasn't the case. From what he'd picked up from her attackers, this girl was a mutant. He had heard on the news about the mutants, but he didn't care too much about it. The mutants didn't change his war in the least. "What then?" he asked her. "Xavier… Institute…for…" she passed out before she could finished. He removed his coat, wrapped it around her and placed her in the backseat of the Subaru, by which point the rain had started to fall.

After that he collected their cell phones and wallets, hoping to gather any Intel on who these guys were. He sat in the driver's seat and went through the cell phones and found to his dismay that they were pre-paid cell phones and thus cannot be traced. The wallets weren't much better, either. Nothing inside them connected them to each other and one had an I.D. card that was obviously a fake. There was nothing unusual about these people, all in all, it seems that this was just another random act of violence against mutants.

She had told him to take her to Xavier Institute. He didn't know where that was but luckily the Subaru had an onboard GPS. He typed in 'Xavier Institute', hoping for the best. Top result was Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. 'Gifted Youngsters, huh,' Frank thought, looking at the girl through the rear-view mirror, recalling the fear he saw in her eyes when he tried to touch her. 'I wonder what your 'gift' is.'

The GPS helped a lot. The Institute was so out of the way, he doubted he would have ever found the place. Frank drove up to the main gates, got out of the car, went over to the intercom, and said, "I have one of your students. She needs medical attention." No reply came. "Is someone there?" he asked. Still nothing. He turned back to the car and saw the girl shift in her sleep. When he did, he made up his mind of what he was about to do.

He got back in the Subaru, put it in reverse, drove back a few yards, put it back in drive, floored it, and rammed the gates. The gates gave way and Frank sped towards the mansion. He pulled up to the front doors. 'No need for me to stick around,' he thought. 'I'll drop her off and head home.' He got out of the car, open the passenger door, and moved to pick her up when he saw something in the back. He opened the rear hatch and saw a lock on the floorboard. He tried the keys in the on the key ring for the car and eventually found a match.

He opened the door to reveal a hidden compartment and what he saw changed everything. 'Well things just got complicated,' he thought, closing the compartment. He closed the hatch. He went back to the passenger side and picked the girl up, she was still sleeping soundly. He went up the front steps and with some difficulty; he managed to get the door open. He stepped into the main foyer and placed her on one of the sofas. He sat down next to her and collected his thoughts. 'This wasn't a random attack,' he thought. 'This is just the beginning,' was his last thought before dozing off.

AN: How many of you are mad that I started another story without updating any of my other stories?


	2. Ch 2 Meetings

Ch. 2 Meetings

The rain was coming down hard that night but that didn't deter the X-men. They searched high and low for their friend but to no avail. Logan sniffed the air, hoping to catch Rogue's scent but got nothing. "Logan?" a voice asked from behind him. He turned and saw Kitty Pryde, her arms wrapped around her chest to try and ward off the cold. "Got anything?" He shook his head and Kitty looked away. "I should have been with her," she said. "If I had been there I could've-"

"Don't do that to yourself," Logan said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "If you had been there, then you be in the same trouble as she is." Kitty nodded, tears threatening to spill over. She wanted to find Rogue and go home.

At that point Scott Summers and Jean Grey came up and Jean asked, "Did you find anything?" Both Logan and Kitty both shook their heads. "You?" Logan asked. "Nothing," Scott said, shaking his head as well. Logan sighed, "Alright," he said. "We have to expand our search. Jean, you and Scott-"

_"Logan?" _a voice in Logan's head asked. _"Chuck," _Logan asked._ "Have you found Rogue?" _

_"Yes," _the Professor replied._ "She's hurt but she's safe." _

_"What happened?" _Logan asked, very concerned. _"Where is she?" "I'm not sure what happened," _Charles answered_. "But she's here at the mansion. Gather the team and get back as soon as you can."_

_ "Alright,"_ Logan answered, ending the conversation.

"The Professor found Rogue," Logan announced to the team. "She hurt but she's okay. She's back at the mansion, so we need to gather everyone up and head back." "Did the Professor say what happened to her?" Kitty asked. "No," Logan answered. "So I'm guessing he doesn't know either." He turned to Jean and said, "Tell the others that Rogue is okay and to head back to mansion." Right," she nodded and placed her fore and middle fingers to her temple.

"Excuse me, " a voice called out. "Mr. Castle?" Frank opened his eyes and saw a man sitting in a wheelchair in front of him. "Are you alright?" "Who are you?" Frank asked, ignoring the man's question. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, proprietor of this institution," the man answered. Frank looked to his left and saw that the girl had not moved from where he placed her.

"What's her name?" Frank asked. "Rogue." the Professor answered. Frank looked back at the Professor with a raised eyebrow. "It's all she's ever gone by," the Professor answered. Frank nodded, then turned his attention back to Rogue. "What happened to her?" the Professor asked. "She was attacked," Frank answered. "By whom?" he asked. "Don't know," Frank answered, never taking his eyes off Rogue.

At that moment, both men heard a loud sneeze from outside, then the front doors opened and Logan and the rest of the team walked in. When Logan saw Rogue, he immediately went to her side. "What happened to her?" he asked. "She was attacked by unknown assailants," Charles answered, as he wheeled over towards him. "Luckily Mr. Castle, here, was able to prevent further harm to her."

"Castle?" Scott asked. "As in Frank Castle? The Punisher?" "Yeah," Frank monotoned. "If you're planning on calling the cops, just let me gather some intel, then I'll leave."

"Intel?" Jean asked. "At first I thought this was just a random attack against mutants but it seems that they someone backing them. I was hoping you could provide me with some insight."

"Where the attackers?" Logan asked. "Dead," Frank answered. "What makes you think they have a backing?" Scott asked. "Wait here," Frank said before stepping outside. He came in a few moments later holding an M4A1 Carbine with a M203 Grenade Launcher and Franchi SPAS 12 shotgun with folding stock and 8-round magazine.

"So?" Scott asked. "These aren't mine nor are these the civilian models. Whoever these people are they have access to military weaponry." "You're saying the military is behind this?" Kurt Wagner asked. "Doubt it," Frank answered, putting the weapons on the table. "There's probably a leak somewhere."

"Listen," Kitty chimed in. "Can we pick this up tomorrow? I think we should get Rogue to the Infirmary and I think I've caught a-ACHEW!" She sneezed. "A cold." "It is rather late," the Professor said. "Logan, could you take Rogue-" Logan had already picked Rogue up and was making his way to the Infirmary, while Kitty headed upstairs to her room. "Uhm, Jean," the Professor spoke after a long silence. "Yes, Professor?" Jean asked. "Could you find a room for our 'guest' here?" "Uh, sure," she said before turning to Frank. "Follow me," she said, leading him up the stairs.

"Here," Jean said, opening the door to an unoccupied room. Frank murmured his thanks before walking in and placing the M4 and Franchi SPAS 12 on the dresser. "Do you need, anything else?" Jean asked. Frank turned to her and said, "No. Thank you." Then he closed the door. He waited a few moments to make sure she was gone, then he grabbed one of the phones he had taken earlier and began to dial.

Frank still had contacts in the military: a Lieutenant whose now a Colonel, a Captain who went on to run the sniper school at Bragg, just to name a few. But he had an idea of where to start, "Fury?" Frank asked. "Castle?" the other line asked back. "I need favor," Frank said. There was a pause, then, "What did you need?"

When mourning came, a knock on Frank's door roused him from his sleep. He got off of the bed (still in full gear) and opened the door. It was the young man from last night, the one with the red shades. "The professor wants to talk to you," he said. "I'm suppose to take you there." Frank nodded and followed the young man down the stairs and to the professor's study. Inside the room was the Professor and the man known as Logan, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"That will be all, Scott," the Professor said. "Thank you." Scott nodded, then closed the door. The Professor turned to Frank and asked, "Are your accommodations to your liking?" They're fine," Frank answered. "What do you want?" "Yes, well," the Professor stammered, a bit taken aback by Frank's bluntness. "About the incident last night, would you happen to have any idea who would do this?"

"I was hoping you would," Frank said. "Logan?" the Professor asked, turning towards him. "The only one that comes to mind," Logan said. "Is Principal Kelly."

"Who?" Frank asked. "Edward Kelly," the Professor said. "He's a stark supporter of anti-mutant policies. He even ran for mayor on such a platform." He turned to Logan and asked. "Do you really think he would do something like this?"

"Unlikely," Logan answered. "But I wouldn't put it past him." At that Frank turned around and began to leave. "Mr. Castle," the Professor called "Where are you going?" "Frank turned and said, "I'm going to have a talk with this guy and see what he knows."

"Wait," Logan called before tossing his trench coat back to him, which Frank caught. "Thought you would want this back." Frank nodded his thanks before leaving. Charles then turned back to Logan and asked. "Do you think he'll kill him?" " 'Thing about Castle," Logan said, re-crossing his arms. "Is that he only punishes the guilty. If Kelly is innocent, then he'll spare him."

Then he added after a pause. "But that doesn't mean Kelly will come out of this unharmed."

AN: I'd like to say that I haven't seen X-men: Evolution in quite sometime. So if anything is out of place, I apologize.


End file.
